"Tsk, tsk, Commander," clucked Captain Kitara Mallory. She was seated at her desk in her office high atop the command dome of Starbase 901 glancing over a report on a small padd, and she didn't look happy. On the other side of the desk stood Commander Lee Carter frozen at stiff attention, her back arrow straight, knees and elbows locked in place, not even daring to let her eyes move. She didn't look particularly happy either.
"Yet another complete wing of starfighters destroyed I see," continued Mallory. She tossed the padd to land clattering on the desk top and looked up at the officer standing before her, waiting for a reaction, but none was forthcoming from the normally brash young woman. Carter may as well have been carved from stone.
"Well?" asked Mallory impatiently after another few seconds of dead silence. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself and your team?"
Released from her petrification by the Captain's direct question, Carter shifted her eyes to look at her CO while still remaining at attention. "I would like to point out, ma'am," she began coolly, "that we saved 50 million people, hundreds of ships and installations including this space station, and the Federation's interests in this sector. If Serenity had been destroyed, the Mulluran Empire would have been free to advance their border by another fifty lightyears!"
Mallory had heard enough. "Dammit, Commander! I know all that, but why do you have to be so smug about it?" she yelled. "And why do you always have to blow up your entire wing whenever you save the universe? Do you know how much paperwork I have to fill out whenever you pull one of these stunts?"
"No, Captain."
"Shut up! Or I'll make you do it!"
"Yes, Captain."
Mallory was speechless with exasperation. Standing abruptly, she began saying something several times, but no words would come forth. Finally, she gave up, slumped back in her big chair and hung her head, her long auburn hair falling forward and hiding her face. At first, Carter thought she heard crying coming from Mallory, but quickly came to the startling realization that her CO was laughing!
Mallory raised her head and brushed back her hair. "Damn but you're annoying, Lee!" she said, venting the last of her chuckles. Regaining her feet, she rounded the desk and stopped before Carter. A smile was on her face when she said, "If it was up to me, I'd give you all medals. Unfortunately it's not up to me, and Starfleet has different plans."
Carter didn't like the sound of that. Now that she and Mallory were once again on friendly terms, she relaxed her posture to a mere parade rest stance and asked, "What do you mean, Captain?"
"You've got new orders," explained Mallory. She reached back behind her and picked the padd off the desk and handed it to Carter. Glancing at it, Carter saw the official Starfleet Seal at the top. Mallory summarized the padd's contents. "Pending a full reevaluation of the Banshee Program by Starfleet HQ, your squadron is on extended leave."
Now it was Carter's turn to be speechless. She recovered quickly though. "Extended leave? A reevaluation of the Program? It sounds like we're being canned!"
Mallory waved her hands trying to stave off the torrent. "No one's canceling anything, Lee. Not if I have anything to say about it," she reassured her agitated underling. "In the meantime though, you and your team get a vacation! How long's it been since you had one of those, eh?"
That seemed to calm Carter down. "Well, it has been a while…" she hemmed tentatively.
"Good!" said Mallory, taking Carter's response as definite agreement. "Then it's settled. Until Starfleet finishes its reevaluation and ships out a new set of starfighters, you and Banshee Squadron are officially on leave, starting now." When Carter didn't move, Mallory amended, "Now beat it! Go -- find something fun to do!"
"Yes, Captain," replied Carter, still somewhat stunned by the sudden turn of events. She left Mallory's office as if in a daze and slowly began making her long way back to her quarters 500 levels below.
She had a bad feeling about this. The Banshees had been placed on leave and 'reevaluated' once before -- after the Dominion War -- and had wound up spending the next eight years bussing VIPs and Admirals around in shuttlecraft. She fervently hoped the same thing wouldn't happen again.
For now though, she had to go and break the news to her team.
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